At First Sight
by RobinxRaven writer
Summary: AU. Raven ends up with the villains after coming to Earth, but that doesn't stop Robin from being interested in learning more about her. A collection of short chapters showing the difference in their lives.
1. The First Battle

Hours after the battle with the students of HIVE had wrapped up, Robin found himself pacing the length of the window in the common room, grateful that the others had retired to different parts of the Tower so he could be alone with his thoughts. Whatever he was thinking about was definitely causing some kind of internal conflict, because every few seconds he would smile to himself and then frown, before making a visible effort to keep his face set. His hands would also form into fists only to relax before he tried to pop his knuckles and then rub his palm togethers. For the millionth time he sighed and looked at the ceiling as he continued walking back and forth.

"_Why can't I get her off my mind?"_

The Titans had responded to an alert just like they normally did, hurrying to the scene of the crime and ready to put away the criminals, all four of them. A kid with a foul mouth, one big dude who definitely didn't skip leg day, a girl in witch's dress and odd pink hair, and another girl in a blue cloak with her hood pulled up to cast a shadow over features. Cyborg chose the big guy, Starfire locked eyes with the witch girl, Beastboy and the kid started trading insults, and Robin readied his staff and stared down the cloaked girl before ordering the Titans to fight. It had been surprisingly easy to get the upper hand on her by feinting with an overhead strike before sweeping her legs out from under her. She hit the ground with a thud and a groan, and right when he was about to follow up with a strike of his staff, all thought flew out of his head when she looked up at him.

She was gorgeous, to be blunt and to the point. The way her purple hair fell just shy of the soft line of her jaw and framed her face, or the curve of her Cupid lips or her bright eyes, or the smooth skin of her legs or her delicate, tapered hands that had been revealed when she'd fallen and her cloak had opened, all of it came together as beautiful in a way that he'd never attributed to a girl before. Obviously, there had been (and were currently) attractive girls in his life, but while he acknowledged that they were good looking, none of them were close to the league this girl was in. But while he stood there and tried to remember his name and why he was fighting, she recovered quickly and sent him flying with a wave of magical energy.

As he recovered, he saw the other girl run over to her and help her stand as she asked, "Are you okay, Raven?"

With a groan, he stood and muttered to himself, "Her name is Raven…" Before returning to the battle. Though he would never admit it, he was pulling his punches as he fought Raven, and would only realize it after he traded with Cyborg to fight Mammoth and almost immediately recognized that he was putting more effort into the fight and not just because his opponent was more of a challenge, because Mammoth really wasn't. The battle continued on until the four criminals escaped after creating an opening for themselves, at which point the heroes returned home and tended to their injuries.

"_I wonder how she ended up with them, and why she's helping them."_

He took a deep breath and sighed, then turned on his heel and kept pacing. _"Get it together. Just because she's attractive doesn't change who she is or what she's done."_ Was immediately followed by: _"I wonder how difficult it would be to get her to change her ways."_ Robin couldn't stop conjuring moments from the fight to his mind, the way she commanded the shadows around them and used them in tandem with flying kicks and punches, her form as she flew into the air, and the way he could tell she was collected and calculated from her reserved features and calm expression. She hadn't said a word to him, and he wondered if she was more talkative with her villainous friends. In between scolding himself for being so curious about her, he wondered where Raven's powers came from, why she sometimes said 'Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos' to cast a spell and sometimes she didn't, what kind of combat training she went through and what she did in her spare time.

"Are you still out here man?" Robin was snapped out of his thoughts when Cyborg walked into the room and called out to him. "I went and worked all the dents out of my parts, like, an hour ago." Cyborg said while he gave Robin a worried look. When he shrugged and looked out the window, Cyborg rolled his eyes and said, "So they got away. We'll get em next time, alright? You don't need to start brooding over it."

"I'm not brooding." Robin quickly snapped defensively. "And I'm not thinking about how we lost, even though we're going to do more team based training from now on." He added in a more relaxed tone.

Cyborg quirked a brow when Robin looked like he was about to say something and then quickly stopped himself. "So whatsup?" He prodded after a moment of silence.

"Nothing." Robin answered simply, turning around to leave.

"_I'm just thinking about what I'm going to say to Raven the next time I see her."_


	2. Proper Introductions

As time went on, Raven refused to be pushed to the back of Robin's mind. Often he would be focused on other matters, only for an image of the sorceress to be conjured up, forcing him to put forth an effort to keep his mind on what he was doing previously. It was especially grating when he was doing something that had no reason to make him think of Raven, like doing paperwork or spending time with his team.

Not once since he'd taken on the mantle of crime fighter had Robin looked forward to going out and fighting; it was something he did because of what had happened to him and how, as long as he was able to, he was going to ensure that it couldn't happen to anyone else. That being said, when the alarms starting ringing through the Tower and he was on his way into the city, he had a hard time denying how much he was looking forward to doing his job this time.

As the Titans arrived to once again see the HIVE up to no good, Robin quickly issued orders and the battle began in much the same way it had last time, which of course meant that Robin was once again fighting Raven. And the barely suppressed smile as he raised his hands had nothing to do with that. "I don't think I properly introduced myself last time. My name's Robin." He ducked beneath a palm strike and when he came back up, extended his hand.

Raven looked utterly bewildered for a moment before relaxing her stance and reaching forward to shake his hand. "I know who you are." As was expected, Raven took the opportunity to use her magic and lift him into the air and throw him away.

Easily landing on his feet and then backstepping when Raven tried to follow up with another strike, he said, "Well, aren't you going to tell me who you are?"

"No." She answered as she continued on the offensive.

"Why not?" He responded, careful not to leave himself open as he continued to dodge his opponents attacks.

"Why do you care?" Raven asked, halting her attacks since it was clear Robin wasn't interested in fighting.

"Because…" He faltered for a moment before an idea came to him and he continued, "How are we supposed to be rivals if I don't even know your name?" Which was a total lie, he didn't want to be her rival and he of course knew her name already. Now that he was paying attention, Raven had a lovely voice and he was certainly enjoying listening to her talk.

"I'm not interested in being your rival." She said plainly, shaking her head.

"Raven! Stop talking and start fighting!"

They both turned to see Jinx glaring at Raven, before a barrage of starbolts came down and she was forced to turn her attention away from the two.

Robin turned around with a grin. "So, Raven huh?"

She sighed and nodded. "Yes, they call me Raven. Can we go back to fighting now?"

"Hold on!" He raised a hand and Raven stopped mid-stride. "Why do they call you Raven?" He asked, genuinely curious. _'Does she have a pet raven at home or something?'_

Rolling her eyes, she reached up and flicked her hood where it came to a point over her brow.

"Oh, I see. It does kind of look like a birds beak." Robin mumbled took a step to the side so he could view it from another angle.

"Excellent deduction, Boy Wonder. Are we going to fight now, or do you have any more questions?" Raven drawled, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"We can fight." Robin took his staff out and took a stance with it. "If that's what you want."

While she seemed happy to not be answering any more questions, Robin wondered if he was just hoping that she seemed just as interesting in fighting as she was in answering questions (which was to say, not at all), or if it was just his imagination.


	3. Pacifist

The knowledge that Robin would only ever see Raven while he was attempting to catch her was definitely disheartening, but it had the effect of encouraging Robin to think of ways to help reform the criminals he caught so he could at least find out more about Raven outside of fighting. They'd fought a few more times over the few months, but in an absolutely shocking turn of events, trying to make small talk with his not-rival had yielded no new information about the dark sorceress. He was nothing if not determined however, and while he couldn't learn anything about her personally, he was getting more and more familiar with her fighting style each time they fought.

A fact that came back to bite him, because the next time HIVE attacked and Raven was nowhere to be seen, he'd realized that he'd spent too little time paying attention to the fighting style of her villainous friends and was actually having trouble helping Starfire battle Jinx.

When the opportunity presented itself, Robin asked, "Where's your other friend? She give up her life of crime?" The first question was genuine curiosity; the second was hopeful project on his part, but with his serious tone there was no way Jinx would be able to guess that.

"She's waiting to make a grand entrance." Jinx said incredibly sarcastically and more than obviously annoyed, taking advantage of Robin's momentary confusion to hit him with an energy blast.

Robin heard Starfire call out in worry, but he didn't respond because when he hit the ground and came to a stop, he thought he'd been knocked into a nice dream. Looking up from his position on the ground, he saw Raven looking down at him with a bored look. Blinking, he propped himself up on his elbows and asked, "Did you have to go home and make sure the stove wasn't on?"

"Ha-ha." Raven crossed her arms and looked out from where he realized she was hiding around the corner of a building. "I'm not fighting today. It was their idea to attack that armored car over there." She gestured to the reason the Titans had been called to action. "So if they want to risk getting caught, that's their business. Not mine."

Standing up and stepping out of sight of the battle, Robin frowned. "Do you always follow them around when you don't want to?"

"I do not. Follow. Anyone." Raven glared at him, and he realized it was the first time he'd seen her angry; even when he was winning against her in their past battles, she hadn't lost her composure. "They wouldn't leave me alone, and you have no idea how annoying Gizmo can be." She huffed and drew her cloak tighter around herself. "But if they think I'm going to waste my time fighting pointlessly…" She shook her head, and for a moment there was silence between them before she asked, "Don't you need to go help your friends?"

The correct answer was 'yes', but he only considered it for a moment before a tug in his chest kept him rooted in place. Truthfully, he wanted to ask if she was okay. Maybe he couldn't change the fact that she was a villain, but if something was bothering her enough to make her want to stay home and not fight, then he wanted to know what… but unfortunately, he knew it would be pointless to ask. They weren't friends, and he knew deep down that even if he asked, she wouldn't tell him the truth, so there was nothing he could do. "If you're really not going to fight, then you should probably get out of here. My friends won't give you a chance to escape." He said instead, because it was the one thing he could do.

Raven raised a brow, then nodded once and turned on her heel and started quickly walking away. For a moment, he watched her walk away before he turned around the corner and returned to the fight at hand.


	4. Apprentice

"You called for me, Headmaster?" Raven asked as she stepped into Brother Blood's office.

"Yes, there is someone here I'd like you to meet." Sitting at his desk, he gestured to the man beside him, wearing a black and bronze mask with only one visible. "This is Slade, I believe you've worked under him before."

Raven gave an uninterested glance at Slade before she looked back at Brother Blood. "Yes, he's paid you to tell us to get the Titans attention once or twice." She answered curtly.

"Hmph." Blood narrowed his eyes, then stood up and clasped his hands behind his back. "Slade has come here looking for you, something about…" He trailed off and turned to Slade.

"An apprenticeship." He finished. "To cut to the chase Raven, you're extremely powerful, and I believe I can help you-"

"Not interested." Raven cut him off. "Is there anything else you needed me for?" She directed the question at Blood.

This time, Blood grit his teeth and approached Raven. "Mind your attitude, girl!" He exhaled slowly before regaining his composure. "And I suggest you listen to what Slade has to say before you dismiss him so quickly."

"I _heard_ what he had to say." She quickly cut in before Slade or Blood could continue. "He said he wanted me to be his apprentice, and I said I'm not interested in the position." She raised a hand enwreathed in dark magic and Blood watched as Slade was lifted into the air and then crushed, revealing him to be one of his many androids. "Just in case I wasn't clear enough." Raven muttered before she turned and left.

Blood stared in shock, then turned to the mess of wires and crushed metals. "I guess you'll have to find some other way to manipulate the Titans annoying leader."

"It would seem so." Came the response, muffled in static before a small amount of smoke and sparks flew from the ruined android and silence filled the headmaster's office.

Down the hall, Raven ignored Jinx calling out to her as she made her way back to her room. There was a small part of her that felt like telling the Titans, or at least Robin, that Slade was looking for an apprentice, but ultimately deemed it unnecessary. If Slade accomplished his goals the Titans would know, and if he didn't, oh well.

Either way it wasn't any concern of hers.


	5. Rumours

Lunch at the HIVE academy was probably the worst part of the day. At least Raven could teleport from her room to the classroom when classes were in session, thus avoiding interacting with anyone in the hallways, but for some genius reason students weren't allowed to eat outside the cafeteria, so she was forced to sit down with Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth five days out of the week. Conceivably, she could just ignore the rules and do what she wanted, but unfortunately staying on at HIVE was definitely a step up from being homeless, so if she had to spend 45 minutes a day ignoring her tablemates, it was a small price to pay. Today however, her tablemates seemed eager to start a conversation with her, judging by the way they were staring at her as she walked over.

"Hey, you remember how like three months ago, Slade tried to recruit you but you turned him down?" Jinx asked before Raven had even finished sitting down.

"Yeah." Raven muttered, creating a magical barrier to stop Mammoth from stealing her food like he usually tried to. He'd long since learned he wouldn't be able to, so why he still tried was beyond the sorceress. There was a pause as Jinx and Gizmo looked at each other, prompting Raven to follow up with, "Why?"

"Weeeeeeeell… word on the street is he's found someone to work under him." Gizmo answered. "Nothing official, just rumours based on rumours, you know the deal…"

"And why should I care?" Raven asked, genuinely curious as to why she should be concerned with who Slade trained in his free time.

Jinx scoffed. "You _need_ to get out more. His apprentice is one of the Titans!"

"No it's not!" Gizmo cut in. "After that scuz-bag Robin royally crapped on his secret layer, Slade went out in search of a new one-"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Jinx interrupted.

"I'm getting to it, hold your horses!" Gizmo shouted, making Raven wince. "Anyways, he's looking for a place outside of the city when he finds this girl who can move rocks with her mind-"

"That's not what happened."

"Will everyone quit interrupting me!?"

Raven turned to see a villain she knew as See-More had approached the table. "What really happened was that the girl was invited to join the Titans, but she refused and now she's with Slade."

"Great story. Can you guys leave me alone now?" Raven said, turning back to look at her missing meal which had been successfully stolen by Mammoth when she'd turned around and been distracted.

"Don't you get it?" Jinx asked in disbelief.

"I get that you aren't leaving me alone." Raven challenged her.

Jinx ignored her and continued anyways. "If Slade has recruited a double agent, he can bring the Titans down from the inside and the city will be ours!" She laughed and high fived Gizmo. "I can't believe we didn't think of that."

"Yeah, a bunch of high profile criminals are going to convince the Titans to let us join them." Raven said with a shake of her head. "We've learned the error of our ways and we're ready to contribute to society!" She said in a falsetto voice. "Give me a break."

"Why do you think Slade went after a girl no one knows about?" Gizmo asked. "Honestly, use your stupid brain for once."

Rolling her eyes, Raven stood and used her powers to throw her chair at Mammoth for stealing her food, causing the cafeteria to erupt in laughter. "Remember how I asked why I should care about what Slade does? You still haven't answered me." She pulled her hood up and left for her room before the other villains could retort. Once again, the idea that she should alert the Titans ran across her mind before she once again decided it didn't concern her.


	6. Piecing Things Together

"Raven Raven Raven! Come quick! You've gotta see this!"

The witch in question was snapped out of her meditation when the door to her room was flung open and Jinx ran in, the 'Knock Before Entering' sign once again going ignored for the millionth time. "What!?" Raven hissed as she stood up and was nearly pulled off balance when Jinx took hold of her upper arm and pulled her out into the hall. But as she pryed herself free from the other girl's grasp, she noticed several other students running along the hall and realized that something big must've been happening. Were they under attack?

"Check it out." Jinx said when they arrived in one of the open areas in the HIVE's base where the students were gathering.

"_As you can see from the smoke behind me, Titans Tower is under attack. Police drones have captured images which indicate criminal mastermind Slade is behind the attack. A civil danger warning has been issued, and citizens are advised to stay indoors until the all clear is given."_

The reporter turned around when a large explosion came from the Titans home base, and the students gave a collective cheer.

"Alright students, time to put your training to the test!" Blood announced as he turned off the TV. "There's going to be increased police patrols in the city while the Titans try to defend their home, but they're going to be stretched thin. Spread out over the city, and cause as much destruction as you can!"

Cheers and laughter erupted as villains started making plans on which part of the city they were going to. But as Raven was once again dragged into Jinx's group, she wondered if this was somehow her fault. Even though she'd gone up against the Titans several times since Slade had tried to recruit her and after she'd heard the rumour that he'd managed to find someone, she hadn't once let any rumours slip, even when Robin tried to banter with her or initiate some form of conversation between blows. _"And now he's getting attacked..."_

Shaking her head as she headed out into the night, Raven forced herself to think of anything except that tight feeling in her chest as she saw the smoke blanketing the crescent moon on the horizon.


	7. Infiltration

"I can see that kick coming from a mile away." Raven said after successfully guarding and counter attacking a roundhouse kick from Robin. "Maybe you should stop trying to use that attack on me, and come up with something else instead."

"We're out of here! Raven, Jinx, let's go!" Gizmo shouted from somewhere else.

There was an explosion that sent dust and debris in Robin's direction, and when he stood up, the members of HIVE were nowhere to be seen. He sighed and brushed himself off, then rejoined with the other Titans. "Awesome dudes. Once again they start an attack, once again we show up, and once again they get away. Shouldn't we chase after them for once?" Beastboy asked as he watched Starfire pull a large magnet off of Cyborg's back.

"Don't worry Beastboy. We'll see them again sooner than they think." Robin said with a smile. His roundhouse kick earlier had given him the opportunity to place a tracker on Raven's cloak, smaller than a dime, and when he held up his communicator the others could see a dot giving away the villain's location. The others smiled and nodded, then headed back to the Tower with renewed determination.

A few days later, Starfire and Beastboy stood in front of the large monitor that displayed plans to infiltrate the villains secret layer. "This'll be a piece of cake!" Beastboy said. "No one's gonna suspect a spider-" he transformed into the animal before turning back to human, "-or a harmless fly on the wall-" he transformed again before returning to normal, "-or I could even become a-"

"Sorry Beastboy, but a green animal is going to stick out no matter which one you choose to be."

The two turned around to see Robin walking in, and beside him was… "Cyborg!?" Beastboy and Starfire both exclaimed at the same time. "How are you-" Beastboy gestured to Cyborg's human appearance, completely devoid of all mechanical augmentations.

"Because of this." Cyborg pulled a ring off his left hand, and his appearance went back to the way the Titans were used to seeing him. "A holographic appearance changer invented by yours truly. And check this out!" Cyborg put the ring back and after his appearance went to that of a normal human, it changed his skin to stone-gray. "Meet Stone, the new bad guy at HIVE academy."

"Amazing!" Starfire cheered.

"Of course I don't get to go." Beastboy grumbled.

Robin ignored the shapeshifted and said, "Cyborg will be in touch with us whenever he can, and if anything goes wrong, we'll be there as soon as we can to help him out. Wish him good luck now, because it'll be a while before we see him again."

Starfire lifted into the air a few feet and hugged Cyborg. "Be safe, and best of luck to you."

"Like he needs me to wish him luck." Beastboy said as he gave Cyborg a high five.

"That's right. He's never let us down before." Robin nodded at Cyborg, who gave a wave and turned to leave, walking into the hallway and getting into the elevator so he could make his way to the HIVE's secret layer as he'd discussed with Robin earlier.

Initially, the leader of the Titans had wanted to go undercover himself, using the Red-X persona once again. Cyborg managed to convince him otherwise by pointing out that Slade had played him like a fiddle last time and there was a good chance Slade had told others about who Red-X really was before he'd passed away in the fight with Terra, and pointing out that it was safer if he used the holo-ring in order to pass for a villain. Plus, even though he hadn't brought this up to Robin, he didn't want the Titans leader to get tricked by a villain once again. So far, his interactions with Raven hadn't aroused any suspicion in his teammates, by Cyborg could tell there was something more going on, at least on Robin's side. If the Titan's leader accidentally let his true identity slip, it would all be for naught and he'd put himself in unnecessary danger, and if anyone was going to trick Robin into revealing his secret (on purpose or not), it would probably be Raven. It wasn't like things had gotten out of hand, but Cyborg knew it was the safer option for him to go instead of Robin.


	8. A Lot of Things

"_You could've been one of us."_

"_I could've been a lot of things."_

The last exchange between Jinx and Cyborg replayed itself in Raven's head as they all travelled to the hidden HIVE base out at sea. She'd recognized the Titan's aura due to her empathic powers, but had refrained from telling anyone, just like she hadn't told anyone about the tracker she'd found on her cloak. After that, it wouldn't have been hard to figure out that a Titan had snuck into HIVE, empathic abilities or not. And besides, when she'd learned of a villain infiltrating the good guys base, she'd refrained from saying anything back then. So when the Titans showed up and destroyed the academy, she rationalized it as karma and moved on (even if some of the others weren't so keen on letting things go).

"_I could've been a lot of things."_

Sighing, Raven mused that it must've been nice to have the choice to live as you saw fit. She wondered what her life would be like if she'd grown up on Earth instead of sequestered away in a temple. Would she admire the Titans, or yearn to be a villain? It was hard to think of what her life would be like if she had lived a normal life, considering she had never been what one could call 'normal'. As she tried to think, it was hard to say if she wanted to be either. She didn't care much for breaking the law, as it was for the most part something she did in order to stay with the HIVE. If she had a family that provided for her, she wouldn't have to break the law. But as far as doing good simply for the sake of doing good, considering what she was cursed to bring upon the world, just didn't make sense to her either. It had never crossed her mind before, but now that she was stopping to really think about, the idea of being a hero was an utterly confusing concept for her.

What did they get out of it? An ego boost? A warm, fuzzy feeling? Fan clubs? None of that interested Raven, and she doubted it would if the Titans had found her instead of HIVE. Maybe it was a topic to bring up the next time she fought Robin, considering how much time he spent trying to get her to talk about herself.

"_I could've been a lot of things."_

The look on Robin's face when Cyborg had said that, like he was glad his friend had never lost his way, sprang into Raven's mind. And then he'd turned to her and given her a look she couldn't quite read; not quite a look of pity or a look of confusion but of… longing, if she had to give it any description at all. But longing for what?

The fanciful idea that it was longing for _her _brought an unwarranted smile to her face for just a split second before she dismissed the thought and her expression returned to a neutral one.

But as she thought about her past interactions with the Titans leader, she couldn't deny it might've been a possibility. It certainly explained a lot of things, didn't it?


	9. Missing In Action

"I'm starting to think Beastboy was right. You guys show up, we come out to stop you, you get away, and then the cycle repeats itself. Round and round we go." Robin said with a sigh as he fought Jinx.

"Maybe if you were actually competent crime fighters, you would actually put us away for once." Jinx retorted.

Robin ignored the sarcastic insult and instead asked a moment later, "Where's Raven? I haven't seen her with you the last few times you three have attacked."

He must've hit a nerve, because Jinx glared at him and sent a wave of energy at him. "Who cares about her? Now that Blood's not barking orders at us every second, we can do what we want." She said quickly, and then proceeded to attack him ferociously for the rest of the fight without giving him a chance to ask any more questions.

When the fight ended and the Titan's had returned home, Robin immediately went downstairs to his dingy office and started opening files on his computer and going through the documents on past villain encounters. His suspicions were confirmed after hours spent looking at the information he'd compiled; Raven hadn't been seen in almost four months. Thinking back, that was about the time they'd destroyed Blood's second base after Aqualad had brought his whereabouts to the Titans attention.

If Raven had been part of the HIVE, then it stood to reason that if HIVE was no more, she was working independently, just like Jinx implied she and her team were doing. But if she was working on her own, then she should've popped up on the Titans radar by now. No criminal, no matter how good they were at covering their tracks, could avoid leaving a trail that the Titans could follow. So if Raven wasn't engaged in criminal activity, and she was on her own… then it left Robin with a sinking feeling as he asked himself, _"Is she doing okay?"_


	10. Help

Despite turning the lights off and getting into bed almost three hours ago, Robin found that sleep eluded him, as it often did on slow days like today had been. For once, it wasn't just the excess energy that hadn't worked off that was keeping him awake, it was the same thought that had been on his mind for weeks that was keeping him up. He stood up and paced the length of his room, something he only did when Raven was on his mind, in the vain hope that if he paced long enough he would burn through some energy and he'd fall asleep easier. Unlikely, as his heart pounded in his chest and the simple, repeated desire in his mind to see her again kept him from focusing on anything around him as he stared at the ground.

It didn't take very long for him to put on his uniform and go to the common room to get a glass of water. It was going to dip below freezing tonight, but despite that Robin found himself hot from how worked up he was getting as he kept thinking about the witch he hadn't seen in so long. Downing a large portion of the nearly full glass, he glanced at the monitors and moved automatically to the couch.

It took less than ten minutes for Robin to highlight all the places Raven had been seen in her career on the map, along with the distances from the now destroyed HIVE base to them. Printing out a map and heading downstairs, he probably should've had some reservations about what he was about to do, but he was only filled with determination as he headed out into the city on his own. As he drove, he kept glancing down alleyways to make sure he wasn't missing her on the off chance he drove past her. When he reached the first of many areas where Raven had been, he got off his motorcycle and began to search around. When he found nothing, he got back on his bike and went to the next area and began the search again.

For hours he did this, until he found himself on the complete opposite side of the city from Titans Tower at nearly four in the morning, exhausted from all the driving and searching around he had done.

As he was on his way back home to come up with a new plan to find Raven, he drove past a park and sitting on a bench beneath the orange glow of a lamplight, he saw the familiar blue cloak and his heart skipped a beat. Quickly pulling to the curb and throwing his helmet down, he ran over to where Raven was sitting. She looked up when he approached, and he slowed to a stop, raising his hands. "I didn't come here to fight." He said quickly, hoping that she wouldn't run away now that he'd finally found her. Raven's gaze lingered on him for a moment before she turned her gaze out in front of her. Robin slowly walked over and sat beside her on the bench, noticing the stains on her cloak and leotard, the greasy shine to her hair, and the holes in her shoes, as well as the scratches all along her legs. "What are you doing here?" He asked as his gaze lifted to her face.

"Sitting." Came the sarcastic, tired, hoarse response that made Robin's shoulders slump from just how exhausted she sounded. There were so many questions he wanted to ask her, but before he could decide on anything Raven spoke up again. "Why? Is that a crime now?" She sounded annoyed, though not because she was angry at him, and he had the sneaking suspicion that it was because she probably hadn't eaten anything in a few days.

"No, no." He assured her, rubbing his hands together to keep them warm. Gritting his teeth, he took a breath and decided not to beat around the bush. "Are you okay?"

"Peachy." Raven muttered. "It's cold, I have a headache, and now you're here, asking me questions. I'm doing great."

Robin sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, if Raven had stuck to her life of crime, she would be better off. Neither Jinx or the other former members of HIVE had ever looked this down. "Do you- want any help?" He caught himself and opted to ask if she wanted his help instead of if she needed his help; clearly she did, but if there was one thing he knew for sure about Raven it was that she was prideful and wouldn't admit to needing help.

She scoffed and closed her eyes. "And why would you help me?"

"Why wouldn't I help you?" Robin asked.

"Why would you care about what happens to some villain?" She responded bitterly.

"Because you're not 'some villain'. I don't know everything about you, or how and why you ended up like this, but you're not a villain. When's the last time you stole anything, or destroyed something just because you could?" Before she could respond, Robin continued. "You may have ran with a bad crowd and done bad things, but you aren't a villain. Not like the others."

Raven turned to look at him as he spoke, and for a moment silence hung in the air as they stared at each other. After a few moments, Raven rolled her eyes and turned away. "You don't know anything about me, not really." She muttered. "If you knew the truth-" Raven stopped and mentally cursed herself for letting even that much slip, blaming her exhaustion and standing up to leave.

"You have a choice."

She stopped mid stride as Robin called out to her, and surprised him by laughing. "No, I don't." Turning around to face him, Raven shook her head. "I don't have a choice any more than the sun has a choice to rise in the morning, or the seasons have a choice to come or go. I'm not being pessimistic, I'm telling the truth. _You_ may choose to use your abilities a certain way, your friends may choose to fight alongside you and the bad guys who were at HIVE may have chosen to live that way, but I… I never had a choice." It was what the monks of Azarath had told her time and time again: hurt people or contain your powers, there is no other choice. Stay in Azarath or go to Earth, either way your life will end on your eighteenth birthday. And then when she'd arrived on Earth and the HIVE had found her, it was join them or be targeted by them. Nothing in her life had ever been up to her.

"Raven!" He called out to her and took a couple of steps closer, and thankfully she stopped before she escaped into the portal of shadows that she'd created. "Even if you don't think you have a choice, and no matter what you've done in the past… if you need help, all you have to do is ask." He said softly, as honestly as he could.

She kept her back to him, and Robin saw her hands twitch before she walked forward and disappeared, leaving him to hang his head. The cold didn't help the pit opening up in his stomach; he thought that once he'd finally found Raven he would feel better, but now he felt even worse than before. At least before there had been the hope that Raven was getting along _somewhat _alright now that HIVE was no more, but now that he knew she wasn't… once again, all he wanted to do was chase after her, and hope that he'd find her once again.


	11. Every Three Days

Snow had fallen in Jump City, and despite the normal joy and festivity it would bring to Titans Tower and the city as a whole, Robin was busy tapping his foot and staring out of the window in the common room.

Starfire was sitting on the couch, watching Robin try and fail to be still as his frown was visible in the reflection of the window. She took a deep breath and stared at the coffee table as she pulled the blanket tighter around her. Ever since Beastboy had woken them all up with the loud declaration of the change in weather, Robin had been in an… off mood. He had not had a positive reaction to the news, was not interested in joining in the snowball fights or the making of the snow angels, and was now glowering at the storm outside as though it had called him a klorbag in front of his mother. Standing up, she cleared her throat and walked over to Robin, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Perhaps some of the hot chocolate will improve your mood." She said in a light voice, smiling when he turned around.

"It won't." He mumbled.

"Then perhaps you would like to sit on the couch and watch a movie with me?" She asked quickly walking with him as he started to walk away.

"No." Came the curt response, followed immediately by a sigh. "I'm sorry, Star. I don't mean to have an attitude with you." He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Actually, can you make some hot chocolate and put it in a thermos for me?" When Starfire nodded, he smiled at her, then went to the kitchen and grabbed a trash bag before disappearing down the hall.

Confused, Starfire made the drink for him and had just finished screwing the cap on the thermos before Robin returned, the trash bag now full with clothes upon further inspection. Lots of the casual clothes Robin never wore, a blanket, and as he grabbed it and added it to the bag before tying a knot on it, matches. "Are you pretending to be Santa Claus?" She asked in genuine confusion, since she had no idea why Robin was going about this task.

"Mmm… no. But I do need to give this to someone. After that, I'll be back, and we can watch a movie together." Robin held up his hand with the pinky extended, and Starfire smiled and laced it with her own.

"Stay safe and warm." She said, returning to the couch as Robin left the room.

He left the Tower after dressing warmly and headed back to the park where he'd met Raven last. Thankfully, she was already there, and he was glad to see they were thinking the same thing.

"T-t-took you l-l-l-l-long enough." Raven said as she shivered. "I w-w-was about to start r-r-rob a bank so I c-c-c-could pay for a hotel."

He immediately handed over the thermos, which she took without hesitation. "Robbing a bank is a bit overkill, don't you think? Surely an ATM would suffice." He joked lightly.

"An ATM every few weeks for the rest of winter? I'm not trying to draw attention to myself." She responded.

"Well, hopefully this'll help too." He lifted the bag and handed it over to her. "Clean clothes, a blanket, matches- don't burn your clothes please- and various other stuff, as well as two hundred dollars." He smiled when she looked up at him. "Hopefully that'll help you some, too."

She sighed and took another sip from the thermos, then set the bag down. "Thanks." She said so softly he almost didn't catch it, averting her gaze to the ground.

"No problem." He responded casually. He was ecstatic on the inside however, and was trying not to grin like a fool when she looked back at him. "And if you want to keep your low profile, I can always meet you here so you don't come to our attention." He added in an even voice, not trying to pressure her.

"Every three days?" She asked after a moment's hesitation and a glance at the snow covered environment around them.

"Every three days." He promised.

Raven nodded and quickly finished off the drink before handing the mug back to him, and then with a wave and not a word more, she vanished into a magical portal once again.

This time, Robin felt at ease as he stared at the space where she'd been and decided to head home.

When he returned, Starfire noticed that he was in much higher spirits, but decided not to question it. If Robin was happy, that was a good thing, and there was no reason to question a good change of events, was there?


	12. Peace of Mind

"Here are your clothes back."

Robin nodded as he traded a bag of clean clothes for the dirty clothes he'd lent Raven. "How much money do you have left?" He asked as he reached into a pocket.

"I still have a hundred and fifty dollars." She answered, then took the money from Robin's outstretched hand and counted the extra fifty.

"Where are you staying?" Robin asked hesitantly. After agreeing to meet up every few days, a month and a half had passed and so far, little had changed in the way of Raven willingly giving up information about herself, and so the Titan decided to stop walking on eggshells so much and try harder.

Raven scoffed. "Nowhere. You destroyed my home, remember?" She rolled her eyes.

"You're still living on the streets?" He asked in disbelief.

"No, I built a nice log cabin for myself just outside of town, and I lead little children there so I can fatten them up and eat them." She replied. "It's not like there are many criminal masterminds with underground secret bases left for me to mooch off of anymore."

With a sigh, Robin looked away as a small amount of regret washed over him. Interest in Raven or not, destroying the HIVE and Slade were the right decisions to make, even if it made Raven's life worse, even if it made him wish there was a better option for her. "I'm sure your old friends would like your help in building a new one."

"You want me to go back to a life of crime?" Raven asked in mock surprise.

"No." Robin said quickly. "I want-" He hesitated, not sure if he should say what he was thinking out loud. "It would give me peace of mind knowing you were better off than you are now. Even if it's as a criminal." He held back his desire to add 'or a hero' because he knew that he would have to convince the Titans to let Raven join them first, before he could even begin to work on trying to bring Raven to his side.

"And why are you so concerned with how well off I am?" Raven asked as she held up the money in her hand and then gestured to the bag of clothes with a short tilt of her head.

Robin grit his teeth and sighed, because he couldn't tell her the truth, and he wasn't entirely sure of it himself. He didn't know how to describe his interest in her, not really. It wasn't just simple or morbid curiosity, but it didn't feel like a simple schoolboy crush either. While it was true that he was physically attracted to her, he also didn't know how much of that was a factor in the situation since in all this time, he had yet to compliment her looks. So unsure of what to say, he stayed silent, silent for so long that Raven assumed their conversation was over and with a simple and quiet thanks, she disappeared once again.


End file.
